LOVE vs HATE 1: the Beginning
by Owennumber1fan
Summary: Upon hearing that Queen Chrysalis has begun visiting other worlds, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her pony friends set out to stop her. The ponies soon find themselves in some strange new worlds, inhabited by many new creatures, including those called "humans."
1. An important summons

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, they are all the property of their respective owners.

I apologize for some lapses in this; normally, I try to ensure that these crossover stories make sense in the universes from which they come, but I could not come up with good explanations about how the dimension creating crystal works, or why they remain as ponies in every dimension they travel to. I hope you will be willing to overlook these and they won't taint your enjoyment of the story.

* * *

L.O.V.E vs. H.A.T.E #1

"the Beginning"

* * *

It was a normal day in the land of Equestria, a world occupied by sentient ponies, dragons, griffins, mules, and other species. Of course, days have a tendency to start out normal, then can drastically change direction.

Princess Twilight Sparkle and her dragon assistant Spike were heading down the corridor of the royal palace of Canterlot. It had been a busy few days for the new princess; in addition to worrying that her new job would cause friction between her & her friends, and preparing for the annual Summer Sun Celebration, she also had to rescue Princesses Celestia & Luna when they went missing. The adventure also led to her friends relinquishing the power of the Elements of Harmony to save the dying Tree of Harmony; though the Elements were no longer active, Twilight had the knowledge that the bonds between her and her friends were stronger than ever.

"What do you think the princess wants to see us about?" Spike asked.

"Some royal duties, no doubt," Twilight replied "although she did say it was urgent."

The two eventually made their way into the throne room, where Celestia & Luna were waiting for them.

"It is good to see you Princess Twilight," Celestia addressed her.

"Always glad to help in any way I can," Twilight added "what can I do?"

"I am afraid that one of our old enemies has returned," Celestia told her "Queen Chrysalis is back."

Twilight gasped upon hearing the name; the evil leader of the Changelings, back in Equestria?

"Don't worry princess, whatever evil scheme she has, my friends and I will stop it!" Twilight told her confidently "just tell me where she's hiding out and…"

"In fact Twilight, that is the reason we called you here," Luna interrupted.

"Tell me Twilight, have you ever believed there to be worlds outside of Equestria," Celestia asked.

"Like the one behind the magic mirror?" Twilight asked, recalling that peculiar adventure.

Celestia nodded in response "ever since I learned of that strange world, I became curious if there were others like it. I looked into it, and learned that there is a mystical barrier that separates Equestria from other worlds. Unlike that one, however, only magic can penetrate it."

"Amazing," Twilight marveled "you mean there are other worlds out there, occupied by other ponies?"

"Not necessarily ponies," Celestia told her "you mentioned the world you visited was inhabited by those strange, two-legged creatures. It is likely these worlds are inhabited by similar ones."

"Okay, well, how does this involve Chrysalis?"

"Several days ago, the royal library was robbed," Luna explained "we suspect the thief was a Changeling who had impersonated a member of the royal guards."

"The book that was stolen contains several powerful spells, but one of them is one that can penetrate the barrier I mentioned," Celestia explained "we fear Chrysalis wishes to do just that."

"But, why?"

"That is what we hope you can find out," Celestia said "but whatever it is, it cannot be good. If these worlds are like the one you once travelled to, they will not be able to defend themselves against Chrysalis and her magic. She could easily dominate them and absorb their energy, increasing her powers."

"And increasing her threat to Equestria," Luna added.

"I wouldn't worry about that princess; I couldn't use magic in that other world, so I doubt Chrysalis can either," Twilight pointed out.

"Perhaps, but she could still be dangerous," Celestia told the young princess "and there is no telling what sort of weapons Chrysalis could locate there; ones I am sure she would not hesitate to use against us."

"Of course I'll do what I can to stop her," Twilight replied "but how can I gain access to these other worlds if Chrysalis has already stolen the spell to do so?"

"We have already thought of that," Celestia told her. Using her magic, the white coated princess opened a box near her throne and floated what appeared to be a diamond necklace over to the younger princess, placing it around her neck

"When I was interested in these other worlds, I created this," the white coated princess explained "when magic is used on it, it can open the barrier between worlds and allow travel between them. I had initially planned to use it, but I soon decided that these worlds could be dangerous, and I did not wish to expose Equestria to those dangers. So, I put it away, suspecting that one day, I would need it again; I just wish it was under more positive circumstances."

"But how will I know where in these other worlds Chrysalis is?" Twilight asked "if there are many of them, she could be anywhere!"

"The necklace will lead you where you need to go," Celestia told her.

Twilight thought about questioning that further, but decided that time was of the essence. "One more thing," Celestia told her, as she made to leave.

"In addition to finding Chrysalis and stopping her plans, I want you to consider this trip a 'diplomatic mission' of sorts," she told Twilight "extend the hoof of friendship to the denizens of these worlds; I feel there is much they can teach us, and perhaps, much we can teach them as well."

"I will Princess Celestia," Twilight told her "and I shall not let you down."

"You never have," Celestia replied, with a kind smile.

* * *

After the visit to the princesses, Twilight & Spike hopped on the train back to Ponyville to inform her friends of their mission. Soon they met at the Golden Oak Library to prepare for their strange trip.

"Okay Spike, let's double-check and make sure we have everything we'll need," Twilight told her assistant "saddlebags?"

"Check" Spike replied

"Books about Equestria to help inform the new creatures we'll meet all about us?"

"Check."

"Parchment and quills for documenting all the new information about these worlds?"

"Check"

"Checklist to ensure we have everything we need?"

"Double check."

"Oooh, I'm so excited!" Twilight said happily, clapping her front hooves "we're getting a chance to learn about these new worlds that exist outside of Equestria. Think of all the new information we could obtain; why, there might even be enough for an entire book! A book written by me; I can hardly stand it!"

"Yeah, I'm sure that's great for you and everything, Twilight, but I'm more interested in seeing what kind of awesome flyers they have," Rainbow Dash said "there might be some that could be even better than me, although that's probably not likely."

"Um, you don't think these other worlds have any big, scary, monsters in them, do you?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"It's possible," Twilight replied, as she levitated a few of her favorite books over for the trip "Princess Celestia said that the worlds are most likely populated by strange two-legged beasts, but I suppose there could be other strange creatures in them as well."

That response made the shy Pegasus dive under Twilight's desk and begin shaking in fear.

"Don't you worry none Fluttershy," Applejack began "if there's any rowdy critters, we'll protect ya from them."

"That's right Fluttershy," Twilight added, as she finished her packing "we're all in this together."

"Well, okay then," Fluttershy said, emerging from the desk.

"Oh boy, I hope the things that live in these worlds like sweets," Pinkie Pie said happily "they should right? I mean, pretty much everypony likes sweets."

"All packed," Twilight said, ignoring her pink pony friend "is everypony ready?"

"We're still waiting on Rarity," Applejack said.

"Yeah, where is she? She should've been here already," Rainbow complained.

"Hello darlings," Rarity's voice came from the entrance to the library "terribly sorry I'm late."

"You're just in time Rarity, we were about to…" Twilight began until she noticed the massive pile of luggage the white unicorn had "goodness Rarity, you have maybe like, nine bags there."

"Well, I didn't know what they wore in these other worlds, and I didn't want to come unprepared," Rarity explained "so I packed as many outfits as I could."

"I'm sorry Rarity, but I don't know if we can take all that luggage with us," Twilight explained "I told the others to only pack a saddlebags' worth. I'm afraid you'll have to leave some here."

"Only a saddlebags' worth? Surely you're joking!" Rarity exclaimed "oh the indignity of it all! But I suppose if I must," she added, calming down and began looking through her bags "let's see, what should I choose? Oh, so many wonderful outfits, so many choices; summer wear? Or perhaps something that's more fashion forward?"

"Come on, we don't have all day here!" Rainbow yelled.

"Just because you do not engage in proper fashion, doesn't mean you have the right to criticize!" Rarity said. Finally the unicorn selected two of the bags she had "I suppose these will have to do," she said.

"Okay, here we go" Twilight said. She concentrated her magic on the crystal, which shot forth a beam that opened a portal.

"Whoa nelly" Applejack exclaimed.

"Awesome!" Rainbow commented

"Oooh, sparkly" Pinkie added.

"Okay girls, prepare yourselves" Twilight said "I have no idea what lies on the other side of this thing."

Taking a deep breath, the princess entered the shimmering portal, followed by Spike and her friends.

* * *

Next time, Twilight and her pony friends will visit a few of these strange worlds, including one that Fluttershy enjoys very much.


	2. The journey begins

_Meanwhile… _

"It is I, Verminous Snaptrap!"

"We know who you are, we fight you pretty much all the time," Dudley Puppy pointed out.

"I know, it's just, that's kind of my thing," Snaptrap explained.

"It's over Snaptrap!" Kitty Katswell said "we've got you now, and there's no way you can escape."

"Yeah, not even if a group of ponies from another dimension distracted us," Dudley added.

"That was oddly specific," Kitty pointed out "anyway, prepare to head to jail"

Before the cat agent could make her move, however, a shimmering portal appeared, and a group of strange creatures emerged from it.

"Hmm, that was more pleasant of an experience than I had hoped," Twilight noted "but we're still ponies, so that's a plus."

"Yeah, but where in the heck are we?" Applejack asked.

"Oh my gosh, animals!" Fluttershy exclaimed as loudly as she could, pointing towards Dudely & Kitty.

"A world of living animals, intriguing," Twilight commented, before noticing her Pegasus friend running towards them "Fluttershy wait!"

"Okay Snaptrap, prepare for a long prison…oof!" Kitty said, soon finding herself being hugged by what appeared to be an odd looking yellow horse with wings.

"Oh, aren't you a pretty kitty," Fluttershy cooed "would you like some milk?"

"Who are you, and what the heck are you doing?" Kitty asked angrily.

"Oh my goodness, you can talk?!"

"Okay, this is weird," Dudley commented "even for Petropolis"

Seeing the two T.U.F.F agents distracted, Snaptrap and his gang decided to take their leave.

"Farewell agents Puppy & Katswell," Snaptrap said "I shall now plot my revenge! Except not really, cause you didn't really foil my plans," he added as he and the D.O.O.M members fled.

"Oh great, thanks to you, Snaptrap and his goons got away!" Kitty yelled at Fluttershy.

"Um…sorry," Fluttershy replied.

"Hi, I'm Dudley, nice to meet you," the dog agent said, extending his paw.

"I'm Fluttershy, and it's nice to meet you too," the yellow Pegasus replied, offering her hoof for a shake. Kitty then took the opportunity to slip from the animal lover's hug.

"Fluttershy, there you are," came another voice. Kitty noticed it belonged to a purple horse with wings and a horn.

"Wow, more talking horses!" Dudley said "pretty neat, huh Kitty?"

"No it's not neat!" Kitty replied angrily "thanks to this one," she added, pointing at Fluttershy "Snaptrap got away!"

"I'm sorry if Fluttershy allowed in the escape of this Snaptrap fellow," Twilight said "my friends and I would be happy to…"

"Thanks, but I think you've helped enough!" Kitty told them.

"Aww, come on Kitty, they're obviously new here," Dudley said "and Fluttershy doesn't seem like she means any harm."

"Yeah, what's your deal?" Rainbow asked "even Rarity's cat isn't as mean as you."

"I'll thank you to not imply that my Opalescence is anything but a well behaved little angel!" Rarity replied angrily.

"Anyway, we're not from here," Twilight explained "I was wondering if perhaps either of you has seen a strange looking creature, that looks like a cross between a pony & a bug."

"No, I think we'd have noticed something weird looking like that," Dudley added.

"It's obvious Chrysalis isn't here," Twilight told her friends "guess we'd better check another world."

"Oh please Twilight, couldn't we stay here just a while longer?" Fluttershy pleaded, increasing the size of her eyes.

"Well, I suppose."

"Yeah!" both Dudley & Fluttershy shouted happily.

* * *

Meanwhile, Snaptrap and his D.O.O.M goons had made their way to an old alley.

"That was pretty fortunate when that flying horse showed up, eh boss?" Ollie asked.

"I'll say; it wasn't what I was expecting, but at least it allowed us to escape those T.U.F.F fools," Snaptrap replied "now we can get back to base without any further crazy surprises."

Thus he began to walk off, only to bump into something.

"Ow! What kind of idiot puts a…" he began, until he noticed what he had bumped into; a strange looking creature with long blue hair, green eyes, and legs with multiple holes in them.

"Verminous Snaptrap, I have a proposition for you," it said.

* * *

Eventually, Twilight and her friends said goodbye to their new Petropolis pals and used the crystal to travel to another universe.

"No talking animals?" Fluttershy said sadly, surveying their new surroundings.

"We can't expect all of the universes to be the same," Twilight explained "there's really no telling what sort of creatures, if any, inhabit this world."

"Well, hopefully they'll be as nice as the ones from where we just left," Rarity added.

"Okay everypony, keep your eyes open," Twilight ordered "Chrysalis could be around here somewhere."

"Pardon me fer asking, but how exactly do you know that your little crystal thingy is gonna help us find that no good queen?" Applejack asked.

"Princess Celestia told me the crystal would take us where we need to go," Twilight said "I'm sure that means wherever Chrysalis is."

"Except she wasn't in the last world we visited," Rainbow reminded her.

"Okay, so maybe that was a fluke," Twilight said "but I am confident we're on the right trail."

"Whoa, talking horses! I think I've been hanging around the Wu for too long."

"What? Who said that?" Rainbow asked.

"Down here."

The ponies, and dragon, looked down to see the source of the mysterious voice. It belonged to what appeared to be a yellow snake with arms.

"What are you, some kind of snake?" Twilight asked.

"Snake?! Please, I'm a dragon," the creature replied.

"Uh no offense, but I'm a dragon and you don't look anything like me," Spike told him.

"Yeah, well I don't know how to tell you this buster, but I'm 100% dragon, like it or not," the little creature replied "and who, exactly, are you?"

Twilight quickly introduced her friends and explained to the little creature about their mission.

"Sounds a little crazy, but hey, I've seen lots of weird stuff in my life," he replied "the name's Dojo Komodo Jo, by the way, but my friends call me Dojo."

"So Dojo, is everypony here a dragon like you?"

"Pfft, I wish," Dojo said "nah, it's pretty much all humans, minus the occasional creature here and there. Makes it harder when you're trying to protect the Shen Gong Wu."

"The whoozy whatsit?" a confused Pinkie asked.

"Really powerful mystical objects that can tip the balance between good and evil, the usual," Dojo explained "my pals and I are trying to keep them out of the hands of some bad people."

"Hmm, perhaps Chrysalis might be interested in obtaining some of these Wu," Twilight mused.

"Perhaps, but I haven't seen any shape-shifting bug things around here," Dojo told her "although, I guess if she could change shape, then maybe I did see her and didn't realize it."

"Thank you Mr. Dojo; it was a pleasure meeting you, but I think we'll be moving on now," Twilight told him.

"Suit yourselves," Dojo said "but hey, come back when this is all over; I'm sure my monk pals would love to meet you guys."

Twilight nodded then opened another portal, through which she and her friends disappeared. Moments later, a quartet of human monks appeared on the scene.

"Hey Dojo, what was that flash of light we just saw?" Kimiko asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

* * *

Twilight and her friends stepped out of yet another portal. This world was way different from the others, with buildings that were taller than any the ponies had ever seen before.

"Sweet Twilight, where are we?!" Pinkie asked, before noticing her friends staring at her "what? She's a princess now, we can say that."

"I'd actually prefer you not," Twilight said "but Pinkie's right, this is one strange world."

"Look at the size of those buildings," Spike commented "you think maybe giants live here?"

"I sure hope not," Fluttershy gulped with fear.

"Oh man, I've seen some strange stuff before, but this is probably the strangest," a gruff voice said.

Twilight and her friends turned in the direction of the voice and saw what appeared to be a monkey wearing an eye patch and fez. Next to him was a young two-legged creature clad in odd looking clothes.

"What do you think, new EVO's?" the young one asked.

"I thought your nanite wave dealie wiped them all out," the monkey said "whatever they are though, they sure look weird."

"Oh, yeah, say that to my face banana brain!" an angry Rainbow said, flying over until she was flapping right in front of the monkey.

"Back off Mrs. Ed, unless you wanna end up as glue," the monkey said.

"That better not be a threat!"

"So what if it is?"

"Enough!" Twilight yelled "we're not... whatever it was you said earlier. If you'll give us a minute, we can explain everything."

"Okay, but just one minute," the monkey replied.

So Twilight told them about Equestria and Chrysalis and the travelling to different worlds. They, in turn told her their story; she learned they were named Rex & Bobo Haha, and worked for a group named Providence, which helped protect their world from threats.

"Sounds like this Chrysalis is bad news," Rex said "but if we'd encountered anyone like that, Providence would've informed us."

"Yeah, no shape shifting bug can hide from us," Bobo added.

"Well, thank you for your time," Twilight said, then looked down at the crystal around her neck "I don't get it; Princess Celestia said the crystal would take us where we needed to go, but so far, it hasn't taken us anywhere near Chrysalis."

"Maybe it's broken?" Pinkie suggested helpfully.

"Well, it has never been used before, I suppose it could be rusty," Twilight mused "anyway, if we're gonna have a chance of stopping Chrysalis, we're going to need to cover more ground. And that means splitting up."

"I don't know about that sugarcube," Applejack warned "sticking together is when we're most powerful."

"She's right darling."

"I mean we'll split up into groups and each search a different world," Twilight explained "after five minutes, I'll come and get you, and we'll report what we've found. So, who wants who?"

"I'll go with Fluttershy," Rarity said.

"And I'll go with Rarity," Spike chimed in.

"Ooh, I call Dashie!" Pinkie said happily.

"So that leaves me and you Applejack," Twilight said. The alicorn princess concentrated her magic on the crystal, and, despite some straining, managed to open up three separate portals.

"There's something you don't see every day," Bobo commented.

"Okay everypony, be careful, and good luck," Twilight said. One by one, the groups of ponies entered a portal; when they had, all three vanished without a trace.

"I take it we're not gonna tell Providence about this?" Bobo asked.

"I'm not sure they'd believe us" Rex replied.

* * *

Next chapter, the girls each visit a new world with odd new inhabitants. Who will they meet on their journey across dimensions? You'll have to read on to find out.


	3. Heroes, & Burners, & aliens, oh my

Let's see where Pinkie and Rainbow have gotten to…

"Wow Dashie, check this place out!" Pinkie said excitedly, as she bounced down the streets "this place has almost as big of buildings as that last one."

"Yeah, looks kinda like Manehattan, but like, way busier," Rainbow noted, as she flew around "hey Pinkie, betcha I can fly to the top of one those big buildings."

"Okay."

So saying, Rainbow zoomed to the top of one of the skyscrapers.

"Man, this is foal's play," Rainbow said "I hope I can find somepony here who will give me a real challenge."

"Spider-Man is a menace to this city!" someone boomed. Rainbow turned and saw one of those weird two-legged creatures on what looked like a giant movie screen.

"Sweet, free movie," she said, as she flew in front of it.

"If we allow him to continue to run loose, who knows what trouble he'll cause," the man said.

"Okay, I don't know who this Spider-Man is, but this movie is way lame," Rainbow said "I'm so outta here."

The blue Pegasus flew back down to Pinkie, and noticed her pink pony pal investigating something.

"Hey Pinkie, what ya doing?"

"Trying to figure out what this is," Pinkie said, pointing her hoof at a nearby parked car "it has wheels, so I guess it's some kind of cart, but how does it move?"

"Yeah, I don't see any reins," Rainbow added; she got closer to the vehicle and tapped it with her hoof "and I think it's made of metal; pfft, must move pretty slowly."

"This whole place is pretty weird, huh Dash?"

"Tell me about it," Rainbow replied "come on, let's see if we can find any other Pegasi around here. Maybe they can give us some idea where we are."

Pinkie nodded and hopped after her blue friend.

* * *

And what of Rarity, Fluttershy, & Spike, what happened to them?

"I'm regretting choosing this universe," Rarity said, as the three walked along "look at this place, it's absolutely filthy!"

"Not to mention frightening," Fluttershy added nervously.

"Not to worry, you two have Spike the brave dragon to protect you from whatever dangers may lurk here," Spike said.

"It does make me feel a little safer knowing you're on the job Spikey-Wikey," Rarity replied. Just then, the white unicorn noticed some lights in the distance "I say, is that someone from here? Yoo hoo, we could use some help darling!" she called out, but received no response.

"Well, that was terribly rude!" Rarity said, noticing the lights getting closer "I said, we need help, don't you have any manners?!"

The lights began to get even closer, and Rarity saw they belonged to the strangest looking creature she'd ever seen. It had green, almost metallic skin, covered with other colors, and was coming right at her!

She quickly dived out of the way as the strange beast zoomed past her.

"Did you see that?" she asked her companions angrily "that…thing nearly ran into me! They obviously aren't very well behaved here, are they?"

"I'll say," Spike added.

"I don't think it meant to do that Rarity," Fluttershy said "I think it was just confused, maybe scared."

"Well perhaps, but that's still no excuse," Rarity replied.

Fluttershy noticed another pair of the strange lights coming by "look, there's another one, I'm sure we can clear up this little misunderstanding," she said.

"Um, excuse me, could you perhaps, maybe stop," she said, but the lights continued forward "it would mean so very much to me if you might be so kind as to…"

"Hang on Fluttershy, I got this," Spike said. Waiting until the strange creature came into view, Spike jumped unto the front of it.

"Spike, what on Equestria are you doing?" a horrified Rarity asked.

Though the thing was moving quite fast, Spike dug in his claws and crawled over to the creature's eyes.

"Okay you, slow down and apologize for almost hitting Rarity, or…what on Equestria?" he asked, upon seeing an even smaller creature inside the bigger one.

"Ah!" the thing screamed and did something that caused the larger creature to stop, which flung Spike off.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy said; mustering as much power as she could, she managed to fly over and catch Spike before he hit the ground.

"Thanks Fluttershy."

Fluttershy smiled, then flew over to the larger creature, which was stopped in the road. "That wasn't very nice of you," she said, calmly but sternly "now you apologize to Spike for what you did."

"Texas doesn't apologize to anyone, let alone some lizard."

"Hey, I'm a dragon!" Spike said angrily.

The two noticed that the side of the larger creature opened, with the other one that Spike had seen earlier emerging.

"Goodness. What are you?"

"Name's Texas," he said "are you some kind of flying horse?"

"Pegasus actually, and yes, I'm Fluttershy."

"Whoo, boy, Mike is gonna want to know about this," Texas said, returning to Whiptail.

"Who's Mike?" Fluttershy asked, but Spike only shrugged his shoulders.

* * *

And finally, let's see what Twilight & Applejack are up to.

"Are you sure we're in a different world Twilight?" Applejack asked "this place has the same huge buildings and weird looking creatures as the last one."

"Of course we are AJ," Twilight said "although I notice the denizens of this world don't look all that surprised to see two talking ponies walking around. I wonder why."

"You reckon maybe there are some other ponies here?"

"Could be," Twilight replied "let's talk to somepony and see where we are. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll find Chrysalis here too."

"I don't consider finding that no good witch ta be lucky," Applejack replied.

The two ponies continued their way down the streets, happy to only be receiving cursory glances from the denizens. Before they could ask someone about where they were, they heard an explosion from nearby.

"What in tarnation was that?"

"Come on, let's go see; somepony could use our help," Twilight added.

The two quickly rushed over to the scene and saw one of the strange creatures, although Twilight noted this one had more yellow colored skin than the others, standing around.

"You'll never defeat me Ben Tennyson!" he said.

"That's what you think Animo!" said a younger one of the creatures "prepare for a beatdown, courtesy of Humungosaur" he added, before pushing down something on his wrist.

The two ponies watched on as he changed from his original form into something resembling a small bug "Ball Weevil? Stupid Omnitrix."

"Did you see that?" Twilight asked "that creature changed into another one! I wonder what kind of magic he knows that allows him to do so?"

"How do we know he ain't one of Chrysalis' minions?" Applejack asked "they can change shape too ya know. And he is a bug."

"True, but he doesn't seem like any Changeling we've encountered before," Twilight said "let's watch and see."

Ball Weevil rolled forward and spit some of his silk to capture the villain.

"Looks like Ball Weevil's not so useless after all," he commented. Moments later, a large praying mantis appeared and used its' claws to slice Animo free of the silk "okay, I spoke too soon."

"Well done my pet," Animo said "now devour that little worm!"

"Uh-oh," Ball Weevil said, as it crawled away from the giant mantis "uh Rook, any help you can provide would be very appreciated right now."

"I am not sure of the protocol for dealing with giant insects, but I will give it a shot," Rook Blonko replied. Producing his Proto-Tool, he fired a blast at the giant mantis, which stunned it.

"Ha, you two are no match for my newest creation!" Animo bragged "you shall both fall."

"AJ, I think we should help them," Twilight said.

"Hang on Twi, this is just getting good."

Fortunately, the Omnitrix timed out and Ben transformed back to normal.

"You and your insect pal are in trouble now," he said "let's see how you do against Shocksquatch!"

So saying, he transformed into the hairy alien, which fired a blast of electricity at the mantis, rendering it unconscious.

"Gah, you may have defeated my praying mantis, Ben Tennyson, but you'll never catch me!" Animo said, making a run for it.

However, Rook fired a net from his Proto-Tool, halting the nefarious scientist's escape. The alien then approached the villain and cuffed him.

"You are officially under arrest for wanton destruction & mutating animals without a license," he said.

"Curse you Ben Tennyson!" Animo shouted.

"He always says that," Shocksquatch replied, before the Omnitrix timed out and he transformed back into Ben again.

"That was amazing!" Twilight exclaimed, as she and Applejack approached Ben "tell me, what sort of magic do you use to transform like that?"

"Magic?" a confused Ben asked "I just use this baby," he added pointing to the Omnitrix.

"This strange thing allows you to turn into anything? Fascinating" Twilight said.

"You two aren't from around here, are you?" Ben asked.

Twilight nodded "I am Twilight Sparkle, and this is my friend Applejack. We hail from the land of Equestria."

"Yeah, I'm not familiar with that planet" Ben told them "and I think I'd remember a planet filled with talking horses. Especially ones with wings & a horn."

"Well, if you'd like, I brought a book all about the history of our world," Twilight said, levitating it from her saddlebag "feel free to peruse it."

"I'll take your word for it," Ben replied.

* * *

Meanwhile, back with Pinkie & Rainbow…

"Man, we've looked all over and haven't found a single Pegasus!" Rainbow complained.

"Maybe they're all on break," Pinkie suggested.

"Well, unless something cool happens in the next few minutes, I'm ready for Twilight to show up and get us out of here," the Pegasus replied.

"Ha ha, you shall never catch Batroc ze Leaper!" came a voice. Rainbow & Pinkie looked and noticed it belonged to a guy wearing a strange costume and carrying several sacks of something "my daring skills allowed me to steal from ze bank with no problems."

"Now we're talking!" Rainbow said, and flew over towards "hey you!"

"Sacre bleu! Some kind of blue flying pony? How is zis possible?"

"Okay, first off, I'm a Pegasus; I figured everypony knew that. Secondly, where the heck are we? And third, who are you?"

"You are in New York little Pegasus," Batroc replied "as for me, surely you have heard of Batroc Ze Leaper, criminal magnifique?"

"Nope, I'm new here," Rainbow admitted "but if you're a criminal, I'm gonna stop you."

Batroc chuckled "I do not have time to play silly games with you, tiny flying horse, I must escape with my loot while I have ze advantage."

"I'd say you just lost ze advantage," said another voice.

"Spider-Man?"

"The one and only," Spidey replied "tell your friends."

"You will not catch me, not thanks to my leaping skills," Batroc said, jumping towards a nearby wall.

"This guy never learns," Spidey said and fired out a series of web shots that caught Batroc's legs before he could make contact.

"What ze?" Batroc said, before Spidey wrapped him up in a web cocoon "I have been wrapped up like a crepe."

"Yeah, I don't know what that is, but sure," Spidey said "well, another bad guy stopped; all in a day's work for your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

"That…was…awesome!" Rainbow shouted.

"Thank you citizen…pony?" Spidey said, surprised to see who had said that.

"Could you teach me how to do that web thing?" Rainbow asked "I mean, I'd have to put my own spin on it, like maybe rainbows or something, but it would be so cool."

Spidey ignored her and talked to no one in particular. "Okay, so a flying blue pony is asking me for superhero lessons. Ordinarily, this would seem weird, but this is a place with Howard the Duck and Rocket Raccoon, so I guess a talking pony isn't that crazy."

"It sure isn't" Pinkie added.

"Wait a second, this is my 'stop everything and talk to the audience moment' You're not supposed to be able to interrupt it."

"Whoopsie, my bad," Pinkie said.

"Okay, something tells me this isn't going to be a normal day after all."

* * *

Back with Rarity and the others, the ponies and dragon had met the Burners, and, after pleasantries were exchanged, they explained about what they were doing. Likewise, the Burners told their new guests about their battles against Kane and the fight to save Motorcity.

"Oh dear, this Kane fellow sounds simply dreadful!" Rarity said "imagine, not allowing you to do what you love."

"It's a good thing Equestria isn't like that," Fluttershy added.

"I can't believe we're talking with actual talking ponies and a dragon from another world!" Chuck said "somebody pinch me to make sure this isn't a dream." Texas answered his request "ow!"

"So, what will you guys do now?" Julie wondered.

"I suppose we'll just wait here until our friend Twilight picks us up," Rarity said.

"No good; if Kane learns you're here, he may try to kidnap you and use your powers for evil," Mike told them.

"Or conduct experiments on you to find out how you talk," Chuck added.

"I don't like the sound of that," Fluttershy said, gulping nervously.

"You're welcome to hang with us until your pal gets here," Dutch told them.

"Really? You'd do that for us?" Spike asked.

"We protect all the denizens of Motorcity, even those from out of town," Mike told them.

"Well, thank you for the offer darling," Rarity said "will we be taking one of those, what did you call them, cars?"

"That's right," Mike told her "don't they have those where you're from?" Rarity shook her head "well then, you're in for a treat."

"Hmm…" Rarity said, checking out the interior of 9 Lives "I suppose riding in one could be fun."

* * *

"And so the three tribes stopped fighting, and eventually founded Equestria," Twilight finished.

"A fine story Miss Sparkle," Rook said "I enjoyed how the three different tribes learned to embrace friendship and live in harmony. I wish more species would do the same, do not you agree Ben?"

"Huh, wha?" a tired Ben asked "sorry, I kinda blacked out there a little bit. I've never been all that big on history, that's always been sort of Gwen's thing. Actually Twilight, you remind me a lot of her."

"I don't know who this 'Gwen' is, but thank you."

"Well this here's been great, but we should probably be looking fer our friends," Applejack said "right Twilight," she added, nudging her with her foreleg.

"Oh, I completely forgot!" Twilight said "anyway Ben & Rook, it was nice meeting you both; perhaps if we visit here again, I can meet this Gwen you spoke of."

"I'm sure she'd like that," Ben told her.

Using her magic, Twilight activated the crystal and opened another portal. Waving goodbye to their new friends, the two stepped through it before it disappeared.

"I am not sure if we should report this incident or not," Rook said.

"I wasn't planning on it; I'm sure we'll never see those two again," Ben told him "now come on, I'm hungry for some chili fries."

* * *

In the next chapter, Twilight & Applejack's search for their friends results in them meeting a friendly face from outer space. Also, Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, & Spike continue to get used to the new worlds they're visiting.


End file.
